A Post About Everything

That's what Jordan said I should title this post, since we have a lot to catch up on. To tell the truth, I really have not been in the blogging mood ever since we moved here. Whenever I have some free time, like during Kimball's naps, I find myself doing dishes, reading, or taking a nap myself. But, we have been having lots of fun, so I think it's time to share a little bit of what we've been up to.

Ever since that great big heat wave we had, the weather's been up and down. It's nice and sunny today, for example, but the last two weeks have brought chills and rain. A few weeks ago, Kimball donned his yellow rain jacket for the first time and we went outside for a few minutes to check out the rain. One of my very favorite things in this life is a yellow rain jacket! I thought he looked so cute.

We also found a great place called PlayWerx. Remember Leaps and Bounds, or Discovery Zone? It's kind of like that, or a huge, glorified McDonald's playland. Kimball loved the ball pits and the slides (and so did I, because of course, he had me follow him everywhere!). It's a great place for a hot day!

We've had more fun at the zoo...

...and at the Japanese Friendship Gardens at Balboa park. Every Tuesday, some of the museums are free, so Kimball and I checked out the bonsai trees and the koi pond. He had lots of fun feeding the fish pellets.

We went on a little (it was very short) nature walk. Kimball had fun at first, but these little black flies moved in and wouldn't leave him alone. Instead of running away or flapping his hands at them, he would just hunker down, cringing and whimpering. That was our cue to leave!

One of the highlights of the past month was hosting a couple from France at our house for about a week. She is beginning her postdoc at UCSD in neuroscience, and they needed a place to stay until they could find an apartment nearby.  Kimball took to them immediately, and we are so happy that they are living only a few minutes away! Some highlights of their visit include:

*Our guest not putting milk in his bowl of Wheaties (but still choosing to use a spoon)

*Them asking us why Americans put wax in our chocolate

*Looking at Mediterranean recipes together

*Being served a wonderful meal of ratatouille and molten chocolate mini cakes

*Sharing tips on learning English/French

*Me laughing my head off while Jordan and our guests hunkered down over a dictionary, brows furrowed, while Jordan tried to explain the rule "i before e, except after c, unless it's your neighbor"
*Them marvelling at cooking spray, saying, "In France, zis is eemposible!" I asked if food in aerosol cans wasn't allowed or something, and they said, "no, wee just cannot eemagine it!!"

They came bearing gifts!

The candies above were made out of melon. I think we were told that they were specifically made of cantaloupe, but sometimes things got lost in translation! Anyway, they were very tasty, and Kimball especially loved them.

I could go on about things such as Kimball's first plane ride, and a trip to Utah to see the uncle he's never met, but I think I will save that for the next post.

Here are just a few more funny pictures, including Kimball meeting Mark Twain: